


Unnatural Pretzels

by oriolegirl



Series: Birds of a Feather [1]
Category: Sports Night
Genre: Baseball, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-02-15
Updated: 2007-02-15
Packaged: 2017-10-02 17:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oriolegirl/pseuds/oriolegirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Flavored pretzels are unnatural, yet Dan has bags of them in his kitchen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unnatural Pretzels

Dan was hiding. He acknowledged that fact. When Casey got back from dinner, he would also know that Dan was hiding. Since Natalie took a position at ESPN a couple of years ago, there was no one save Dan and Casey who knew that Casey had his own office. It was never used except when Dan needed to hide.

The door opened and Casey stepped inside. "You ok?"

Dan had to admit that, as his best friend, Casey had a right to be concerned. Dan's hiding in the office often resulted in his becoming reacquainted with the view from Abby's window, but he didn't think that would happen this time. He hoped.

"Yeah," Dan replied, keeping his eyes on the laptop screen. "I'm watching the mighty Cardinals of St. Louis take on the Chicago White Sox."

"Ah, the possible preview of this year's World Series match-up."

Dan snorted. There was no way that was going to happen. "The Sox are going to fall apart after the All-Star break."

"You're just bitter because they crushed your Orioles last season."

Dan glared at Casey over the top of the laptop. The O's caused him enough heartache without Casey reminding him of their disastrous encounters with Chicago. Hearing wild noise coming from the laptop, he looked back at the screen. Sighing in disgust, he said, "It looks like the Sox are going to crush the Cards tonight."

"Wait. You're watching the game live? You can do that?"

"Casey, Casey, Casey," Dan said, shaking his head. It continually amazed him how little Casey seemed to have picked up over the years. Between Jeremy and Charlie, he should've learned something. "Hasn't Charlie been teaching you about the Internet?"

Casey didn't respond -- Dan hadn't really expected him to -- instead turning the other desk chair around and straddling it, folding his arms across the back.

Dan turned the laptop so Casey could see the screen. "This is mlb.tv. For a modest fee, baseball fans across the world can watch games live."

"That's cool."

"It is. It's also part of Bud's plan for global domination." Dan really didn't like Bud Selig.

"I don't know why you insist the Commissioner of Baseball is trying to take over the world."

"Three words for you, my friend. World Baseball Classic."

"Hmm. You have a point. But what about soccer? I thought that was a global conspiracy."

"It's still a global conspiracy. But that's the thing about conspiracies, Casey," Dan said earnestly, leaning towards him. "They're mysterious, hidden in the dark where only the most perceptive can see them."

"Unlike plans for global domination," Casey said solemnly.

"Exactly," Dan nodded, sitting back in his chair.

"So, if you can watch any game live, why aren't you watching the Orioles game?"

Dan sighed. It was looking like this season was going to be even worse than last season. "I gave up after the first three innings."

"That bad, huh?"

"Let me count the ways. One, it's interleague play and you know how bad the O's are in that. Two, Daniel Cabrera is starting; it's one of his bad nights. Three, they're playing the Marlins; Dontrelle Willis is pitching."

Casey frowned. "That doesn't sound good."

"Indeed it is not. I've got it up on GameDay," Dan switched to another window, "so I can keep an eye on it, but I can't bear to watch." Dan switched back to the Cards game.

Casey peered at the small screen, trying to read the score. "So instead you're watching the Cardinals get beat up by the Chicago White Sox."

Dan winced as the Sox scored yet again. "You just wait. The Cards are going to go all the way this year, Casey. I have the utmost respect for the managerial skills of Mr. Tony LaRussa."

Casey looked over at him. "You read that book, didn't you?"

"Three Nights in August? I did, yes." Of course he had. Someone had left it lying on his coffee table where he couldn't miss it. He had to admit, it was a pretty good book.

"Why the sudden interest in the Cardinals?"

Dan could see where this would wind up. He wondered how long he could stall. "Aside from the fact that they're playing the White Sox right now?"

"Aside from that, yes."

"The current Baltimore Orioles franchise came from St. Louis, where they were known as the St. Louis Browns."

"And?"

"Cardinals are birds, too, you know."

Casey waited and Dan knew stalling tactics weren't going to work any longer. Casey could be really stubborn when he wanted to be. "It may be," he admitted, "that Sam is a Cardinals fan."

"Sam Donovan, the ratings guy?"

"Yeah." Like there was another Sam in his life. Dan had been sleeping with Sam on and off for years now. When Sam was between jobs, he came to New York and stayed with Dan. They would have several days, if not a couple of weeks, of intense togetherness and then Sam would take off. Dan was rather happy with the arrangement.

"Huh."

"Yeah." It had surprised Dan, too. He hadn't thought Sam had cared enough about sports -- or been in one place long enough -- to have a favorite team.

"So how is Sam? Haven't seen him in awhile."

Dan hadn't seen Sam in awhile either. He was in the middle of a string of three straight jobs. "I talked to him the other night."

"Where is he now?"

"Kansas City."

"How exciting."

Dan snorted. "Yeah." He looked at Casey, attempting in vain to steer the conversation away from where it was heading, "You remember that time at Kauffman Stadium when --"

"We agreed we weren't going to talk about that," Casey interrupted firmly. "Ever."

Dan hadn't thought that would work. He looked back at the game in progress on his laptop. Casey was worried; Dan could tell. Any moment now, he was going to come out and ask.

"Danny, what's going on?"

"Sam's retiring. Says he's tired of traveling. He's got one more job -- in Missoula, Montana." Dan looked at Casey because he really wanted to see his reaction. "Then he's coming to New York. To stay."

Casey cocked his head thoughtfully. "And that's a bad thing?"

"No. Maybe. I don't know." That was the frustrating thing. Or a frustrating thing. Dan really didn't know if it was a bad thing. He stood up. He really wished this office had a window. But it didn't, so he started to pace. "It really shouldn't make any difference, should it? It's not like we're in a relationship."

"Dan, you have bags of flavored pretzel sticks in your kitchen. You think those are an abomination."

"They are. Flavored pretzels are unnatural."

"And yet."

"And yet." Good lord, Dan thought, dropping back into his chair. He was purchasing unnatural pretzels and following the Cardinals. He and Sam had, in fact, had a fight over the Cards signing Sidney Ponson of all things. Somehow he had fallen into a relationship without even noticing.

"Let me ask you this. Since you started seeing Sam--"

"October 17, 2000." At Casey's pointed look, Dan put his head in his hands and groaned. He really was a woman.

"Since you started seeing Sam, have you dated anyone else?"

"No."

"Have you slept with anyone else?"

"No."

"Do you talk to Sam when he's not in town?"

"Yes." He did, frequently. Phone calls and e-mails and the occasional package. And phone sex. There was a healthy amount of that. Dan wasn't sure what exactly constituted a healthy amount of phone sex, but he was pretty sure they had it covered.

"I'm no relationship expert, Dan, but it sounds to me like you're committed."

"I ought to be committed." When no laugh was forthcoming, Dan looked up. "Casey, how did I wind up in what sounds a lot like a marriage?"

Quietly Casey said, "I'm guessing you finally fell in love with the right person."

"I--" Dan swallowed. Did he love Sam? He must. The irrefutable proof was right there in his kitchen in the form of unnatural pretzels. The only other person Dan had ever stocked unnatural food products for was Casey. Dan had no doubts that he loved Casey, though Casey was more like family. Sam was like that, too, in a way but with the whole sex thing. Sex with Casey was something Dan didn't really want to contemplate.

It was sort of ironic that the biggest fight he and Sam had ever had was about Sam's job. A few years ago, Calvin had offered Sam a position at the network. Dan had heard about it through the grapevine, not from Sam. The argument had ended with Dan slamming out of his apartment to take refuge on Casey's couch until Sam headed off to his next ratings gig. Now that Dan thought about it, he had been more upset that Sam hadn't talked to him about it than the fact that it would have meant Sam would stop traveling.

This time, though, Dan wasn't too upset that Sam had made the decision to retire on his own. He was more concerned about what that would mean for them.

"I'm guessing you guys haven't talked about any of this," Casey said wryly.

"We're manly men, Casey. Manly men do not discuss their feelings."

"What was it we did in Maine then?"

In the wake of the Draft Day debacle, Dan and Casey had spent a weekend in Maine. It had mostly involved talking and, yes, discussing their feelings. "Point taken. Sam and I should, perhaps, discuss things."

"It would probably be a good thing to do," Casey agreed.

Dan looked back at the laptop. The White Sox were battering the Cards into submission. He flipped over to GameDay and saw that the Orioles were attempting to rally. It was probably a futile effort, but they were trying. Well, if the O's wouldn't give up, Dan decided, then neither would he.

Pulling out his cell phone, Dan hit speed dial 2. Casey had been speed dial 1 since Dan had gotten his first cell phone and always would be, but Sam had long since replaced Dan's parents at 2. As the call went to voicemail, Dan cleared his throat. "Hey. So, I just wanted to say that I love you and I'll call you after the show."

**Author's Note:**

> For [](http://community.livejournal.com/sportsbackinsn/profile)[](http://community.livejournal.com/sportsbackinsn/)**sportsbackinsn**; my prompt was "Chicago White Sox thump future World Champion St. Louis Cardinals 20-6."  
> I must give thanks to several folks: [](http://laylee.livejournal.com/profile)[**laylee**](http://laylee.livejournal.com/) answered SN canon questions; [](http://minervacat.livejournal.com/profile)[**minervacat**](http://minervacat.livejournal.com/) listened to me whine when I got stalled, lead me to the realization that I needed to flip this around and rewrite, and then said incredibly nice things about it; and [](http://silver-cyanne.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://silver-cyanne.livejournal.com/)**silver_cyanne** did her usual fantastic job of beta'ing ~~and stroking my ego~~.


End file.
